Progress of Proximity Sensors for Potential Applications in Electronic Skins

Recently,electronic skins and fl exible wearable devices have been developed for widespread applications in medical monitoring,artifi cial intelligence,human–machine interaction,and artifi cial prosthetics.Flexible proximity sensors can accurately perceive external objects without contact,introducing a new way to achieve an ultrasensitive perception of objects.This article reviews the progress of fl exible capacitive proximity sensors,fl exible triboelectric proximity sensors,and fl exible gate-enhanced proximity sensors,focusing on their applications in the electronic skin fi eld.Herein,their working mechanism,materials,preparation methods,and research progress are discussed in detail.Finally,we summarize the future challenges in developing fl exible proximity sensors.

Recent progress in flexible capacitive sensors:Structures and properties

The future intelligent era that will be brought about by 5G technology can be well predicted.For example,the connection between humans and smart wearable devices will become increasingly more intimate.Flexible wearable pressure sensors have received much attention as a part of this process.Nevertheless,there is a lack of complete and detailed discussion on the recent research status of capacitive pressure sensors composed of polymer composites.Therefore,this article will mainly discuss the key concepts,preparation methods and main performance of flexible wearable capacitive sensors.The concept of a processing“toolbox”is used to review the developmental status of the dielectric layer as revealed in highly cited literature from the past five years.The preparation methods are categorized into types of processing:primary and secondary.Using these categories,the preparation methods and structure of the dielectric layer are discussed.Their influence on the final capacitive sensing behavior is also addressed.Recent developments in the electrode layer are also systematically reviewed.Finally,the results of the above discussion are summarized and future development trends are discussed.

Flexible capacitive pressure sensor based on interdigital electrodes with porous microneedle arrays for physiological signal monitoring

Flexible pressure sensors have many potential applications in the monitoring of physiological signals because of their good biocompatibil-ity and wearability.However,their relatively low sensitivity,linearity,and stability have hindered their large-scale commercial application.Herein,aflexible capacitive pressure sensor based on an interdigital electrode structure with two porous microneedle arrays(MNAs)is pro-posed.The porous substrate that constitutes the MNA is a mixed product of polydimethylsiloxane and NaHCO3.Due to its porous and interdigital structure,the maximum sensitivity(0.07 kPa-1)of a porous MNA-based pressure sensor was found to be seven times higher than that of an imporous MNA pressure sensor,and it was much greater than that of aflat pressure sensor without a porous MNA structure.Finite-element analysis showed that the interdigital MNA structure can greatly increase the strain and improve the sensitivity of the sen-sor.In addition,the porous MNA-based pressure sensor was found to have good stability over 1500 loading cycles as a result of its bilayer parylene-enhanced conductive electrode structure.Most importantly,it was found that the sensor could accurately monitor the motion of afinger,wrist joint,arm,face,abdomen,eye,and Adam’s apple.Furthermore,preliminary semantic recognition was achieved by monitoring the movement of the Adam’s apple.Finally,multiple pressure sensors were integrated into a 33 array to detect a spatial pressure distribu-×tion.Compared to the sensors reported in previous works,the interdigital electrode structure presented in this work improves sensitivity and stability by modifying the electrode layer rather than the dielectric layer.

Design of capacitance sensor system for void fraction measurement

Simulation and optimization were applied to a capacitive sensor system based on electrical tomography technology. Sensors, consisting of Morgantown Energy Technology Center (METC) axial synchro driving guard electrodes and two sets of detecting electrodes, make it possible to obtain simultaneously two groups of signals of the void fraction in oil-gas two-phase flow. The computational and experimental results showed that available sensors, charactered by high resolution and fast real-time response can be used for real-time liquid-gas two-phase flow pattern determination.

Liquid holdup measurement with double helix capacitance sensor in horizontal oil-water two-phase flow pipes

This paper presents the characteristics of a double helix capacitance sensor for measurement of the liquid holdup in horizontal oil–water two-phase flow. The finite element method is used to calculate the sensitivity field of the sensor in a pipe with 20 mm inner diameter and the effect of sensor geometry on the distribution of sensitivity field is presented. Then, a horizontal oil–water two-phase flow experiment is carried out to measure the response of the double helix capacitance sensor, in which a novel method is proposed to calibrate the liquid holdup based on three pairs of parallel-wire capacitance probes. The performance of the sensor is analyzed in terms of the flow structures detected by mini-conductance array probes.

Nondestructive testing method of wood moisture content based on a planar capacitance sensor model

For our research, a new hybrid experimental-computational method is presented. We applied a least squares fitting method （LSFM） to reconstruct the wood moisture content （WMC） from the data measured with a planar capacitance sensor. A boundary element method （BEM） was used to compute the relationship between capacitance and the dielectric constant. A functional relationship between MC and the dielectric constant was identified by LSFM. The agreement of this final computation result with the experimental data indicates that this method can be used to estimate the WMC quickly and effectively with engineering analysis. Compared with popular statistical methods, a large number of experiments are avoided, some costs of testing are reduced and the efficiency of testing is enhanced.

Capacitance sensor for automatic soil retreat measurements

To continuously monitor the soil retreat due to erosion in field,provide valuable information about the erosion processes and overcome the disadvantages of inefficiency,high time-consumption and labor-intensity of existing methods,this paper describes a novel capacitance sensor for measuring the soil retreat.A capacitance sensor based probe is proposed,which can measure the depth of the soil around it automatically and the data can be recorded by a data logger.Experimental results in the lab verify its usefulness.

Potato seed-metering monitoring and improved miss-seeding catching-up compensation control system using spatial capacitance sensor

The congenital yield reduction caused by miss-seeding in spoon-type seed-metering device of small and medium-sized potato planter is huge.Based on the physical mechanism of different measured capacitance values between two fixed capacitor plates with different media,a miss-seeding detection scheme based on a spatial capacitance sensor is proposed first.A simple and efficient spatial capacitance sensor that can obtain as large capacitance measurement value as possible is designed,and a dual CPU coordinated seed-monitoring and compensation control system architecture is adopted.AD7745 is selected for the capacitance measure of the spatial capacitance sensor,and the code of grating encoder is also recorded at the same time.Thereby,when each potato spoon passing through the space surrounded by the capacitor plates,the maximum net capacitance fluctuation and its corresponding position can be acquired.A suitable threshold can distinguish between normal-seeding and miss-seeding effectively.Moreover,it should be emphasized that,this monitoring system only requires one monitoring point.Then,based on obtained information,an improved miss-seeding catching-up compensation plan is put forward.By utilizing the powerful memory capability of the CPU,this system does not need to complete compensation immediately after the miss-seeding identification.Instead,the miss-seeding information and the location of the accident can be just marked in advance,and only when the opportunity arrives,can the miss-seeding catching-up compensation be truly executed.In this way,the position of the seed-monitoring points can be free from restriction,and the control strategy can therefore be significantly simplified.The soil tank test data showed that,the identification accuracy of the miss-seeding detection system was not less than 94%.When the seed-metering chain speeds are 0.2,0.3,and 0.4 m/s,the average success rates of the miss-seeding compensation system are 94.32%,83.65%,and 75.00%,respectively.The final miss-seeding rate can be below 3%,and the average deviation compensation rate was not higher than 30%,the miss-seeding was suppressed significantly.This system is a beneficial try in the non-photoelectric detection field and low complexity miss-seeding compensation for potato seeding.

Laser speckle grayscale lithography:a new tool for fabricating highly sensitive flexible capacitive pressure sensors

Achieving a high sensitivity for practical applications has always been one of the main developmental directions for wearable flexible pressure sensors.This paper introduces a laser speckle grayscale lithography system and a novel method for fabricating random conical array microstructures using grainy laser speckle patterns.Its feasibility is attributed to the autocorrelation function of the laser speckle intensity,which adheres to a first-order Bessel function of the first kind.Through objective speckle size and exposure dose manipulations,we developed a microstructured photoresist with various micromorphologies.These microstructures were used to form polydimethylsiloxane microstructured electrodes that were used in flexible capacitive pressure sensors.These-1 sensors exhibited an ultra-high sensitivity:19.76 kPa for the low-pressure range of 0-100 Pa.Their minimum detection threshold was 1.9 Pa,and they maintained stability and resilience over 10,000 test cycles.These sensors proved to be adept at capturing physiological signals and providing tactile feedback,thereby emphasizing their practical value.

Sniffing Bacteria with a Carbon-Dot Artificial Nose

Continuous,real-time monitoring and identification of bacteria through detection of microbially emitted volatile molecules are highly sought albeit elusive goals.We introduce an artificial nose for sensing and distinguishing vapor molecules,based upon recording the capacitance of interdigitated electrodes(IDEs)coated with carbon dots(C-dots)exhibiting different polarities.Exposure of the C-dot-IDEs to volatile molecules induced rapid capacitance changes that were intimately dependent upon the polarities of both gas molecules and the electrode-deposited C-dots.We deciphered the mechanism of capacitance transformations,specifically substitution of electrode-adsorbed water by gas molecules,with concomitant changes in capacitance related to both the polarity and dielectric constants of the vapor molecules tested.The C-dot-IDE gas sensor exhibited excellent selectivity,aided by application of machine learning algorithms.The capacitive C-dot-IDE sensor was employed to continuously monitor microbial proliferation,discriminating among bacteria through detection of distinctive“volatile compound fingerprint”for each bacterial species.The C-dot-IDE platform is robust,reusable,readily assembled from inexpensive building blocks and constitutes a versatile and powerful vehicle for gas sensing in general,bacterial monitoring in particular.

Development of capacitive sensor signal conditioning system for angular displacement measurement using timer IC LM555 and UFDC

In this research paper,we have presented variable area type capacitive sensor signal conditioning system for angular displacement measurement and for this purpose we have used timer LM555 based astable multivibrator and universal frequency to digital converter (UFDC). Due to variation in angular displacement in the variable area type capacitor which is connected in the timer based astable circuit,capacitance changes which in turn changes the time period of the timer circuit output. The time period of the timer output waveform is linear with the capacitance and hence linear with angular displacement. The timer output is further processed with UFDC for the measurement. The experimental results show that the time period is linear with the angular displacement in the range of 0- 180° and the uncertainty we should associate it with this average time period value is the standard deviation of the mean,often called the standard error (SE),which is ± 0.023 μs. Because of the simplicity,this measurement system can be used in both electronic and industrial instrumentation.

Calibration Method of Capacitive Soil Moisture Sensor

Soil properties and water content vary from place to place. The calibration method based on capacitive soil moisture and humidity sensor is carried out. The sensor readings are compared with the mass water content measured by the oven dried method,and the calibration formula of sensor reading and mass moisture content is established.Results show that the sensor reading has a good linear relationship with the mass water content measured by the oven dried method,and has high precision. It can calibrate the mass moisture content of the data obtained from the moisture migration test in the soil column.

A Novel Uniplanar Multi-Electrode Capacitive Sensor for In-Situ Weathering Damage Detection of Nonmetallic Materials

A uniplanar capacitive sensor with 5-electrodes on one plane substrate and a large reflector electrode,was designed to get the corresponding capacitance information for weathering damage detection of non-metallic materials exposed to a service environment.A 2-D finite-element method was employed to simulate the electric potential distribution and capacitance measurements for the sensor.2 marble slabs,one was healthy and the other was notched,were experimentally detected.Both the simulation and the preliminary experimental results show that the measured capacitances decrease after weathering damage occurs in nonmetallic material.The reflector can enlarge the sensitive depth.The weathering assessment of nonmetallic materials can be done by processing the measured capacitances.The proposed approach can effectively detect the weathering damage of nonmetallic material and can be practically used for in-situ weathering damage evaluation.

Dielectric Permittivity of Rigid Rapeseed Oil Polyol Polyurethane Biofoams and Petrochemical Foams at Low Frequencies

Early investigations of dielectric permittivity of rigid polyurethane foams at low frequencies were made on petrochemical-origin foams,mainly by means of parallel plate capacitors.In the present investigation biopolyol was synthesized from Latvia-grown rapeseeds’oil by the transesterification method with triethanolamine,in an environmentally friendly process,without emission of harmful substances,at temperatures 175℃±5℃.Rigid,closed-cell rapeseed oil polyol polyurethane biofoams and petrochemical foams were made ensuring content of the renewable rapeseed oil polyol in ready foams 27 wt.%–29 wt.%.Dielectric permittivity of the polyurethane foams and the underlying monolithic petrochemical-origin polyurethane and biopolyurethane was measured with a non-destructive dielectric spectrometer equipped with a capacitive sensor of one-side access type at 16 discrete frequencies distributed geometrically over the band 10 Hz,…,330 kHz.Permittivity value of the gaseous phase in the closed-cells was estimated to beεg≈1.001 that corresponds to the values,characteristic for the most of gases.Dielectric permittivity of petrochemical polyurethane foams and the mentioned biofoams was compared with permittivity of polyurethane foams from industrial producers Sika JSC and General Plastics Manufacturing Co.Polyurethane foams of the developed formulation exhibit competitive,low dielectric permittivity,not exceeding that of the foams from industrial producers:petrochemical foams up to 550 kg/m^(3) and the mentioned biofoams,comprising the renewable rapeseed oil polyol,up to densities 230–250 kg/m^(3).Considering petrochemical-origin polyurethane foams as a heterogeneous media“Polymer—gaseous phase”,the applicability of the rule of mixture and Maxwell–Garnett equation to model mathematically the dependence of effective dielectric permittivity on the volume fraction of phases was showed.

Modeling on monitoring the growth and rupture assessment of saccular aneurysms

The unpredictable rupture of saccular aneurysms especially of the intracerebral aneurysm is a knotty problem that always results in high mortality. Traditional diagnosis of medical images, which gives the aneurysm size and compares with a speculated critical size from clinical statistics, was demonstrated inadequate to forecasting rupture. Here, we propose a new detecting strategy that uses a dielectric elastomer （DE） capacitance sensor to monitor the growth of saccular aneurysms and deliver both the wall stress and geometric parameters, Based on the elastic growth theory together with the finite deformation analyses, the correlation between the real-time output capacitance of the DE sensor and the wall stress and/or geometry of an aneurysm is derived. Compared to clinic statistics and biomechanics simulations, the wall stress and geometric size may be used as combined indicators to assess the rupture risk of a saccular aneurysm, Numerical results show that an output relative capacitance of 30 indicates a high risk of rupture, Finally, the sensitivity and resolution of the DE sensor are proved adequately high for monitoring the growth state and evaluating the rupture risk of a saccular aneurysm.

Facile fabrication of microstructured surface using laser speckle for high-sensitivity capacitive pressure sensors

The design of a maskless exposure system for fabricating the microstructured surface based on the grainy light illumination generated by laser speckle is reported. Upon combining with soft lithography, we obtained microstructured polydimethylsiloxane electrodes with microstructure sizes of 20 μm and 40 μm and microstructure fill factors ranging from 10% to 90%. The feasibility of using this method in fabricating high-sensitivity capacitive pressure sensors was demonstrated. The sensor shows the highest sensitivity of 2.14 k Pa-1under 0–100 Pa pressures, the low detection limit of 4.9 Pa, and the excellent stability and durability of 10000 cycles. The method of employing laser speckle in fabricating microstructures with different morphologies is simple and robust, which is superior to other methods such as traditional photolithography.

Manufacturing and characterizing of CCTO/SEBS dielectric elastomer as capacitive strain sensors

Calcium copper titanate(CCTO)/polystyrenepolyethylene-polybutylene-poly styrene(SEBS)dielectric elastomers were prepared via blending method.A capacitive strain sensor using CCTO/SEBS as dielectric layer and polyaniline-dodecylbenzensulfonic acid(PANI-DB S A)/SEBS as electrodes was designed and manufactured by thermoforming process.X-ray diffractometer(XRD),scanning electron microscopy(SEM)and Raman spectra analyses were carried out;no impurities were found in the composite and CCTO particles were well dispersed.The dielectric tests showed that the samples filled with 20 wt%CCTO have their permittivity improved by 70%.The capacitive strain sensors have a stabilized capacitance variety range at different strain ranges or stretch speeds,and could remain synchronized after 500-time-stretching,showing high reproducibility.

Development of MEMS-based micro capacitive tactile probe

In this paper, a micro capacitive sensor with nanometer resolution is presented for ultra-precision measurement of micro components, which is fabricated by the MEMS （micro electromechanical systems） non-silicon technique. Based on the sensor, a micro capacitive tactile probe is constructed by stylus assembly and packaging design for dimension metrology on micro/nano scale, in which a data acquiring system is developed with AD7747. Some measurements of the micro capacitive tactile probe are performed on a nano positioning and measuring machine （NMM）. The measurement results show good linearity and hysteresis with a range of 11.6 μm and resolution of better than 5 nm. Hence, the micro capacitive tactile probe can be integrated on NMM to realize measurement of micro structures with nanometer accuracy.

Effects of electric field fringe on performances of grid strip capacitive MEMS devices

Sensing structure of grid strip capacitors can be used in the design of capacitive micro-electromechanical system （MEMS） resonators, accelerometers etc. A grid strip structure consists of nonentirely overlap plates so that the capacitor fringe effect cannot be neglected in the design. Electricmagnetic Finite Element Method （FEM） software ANSOFF-Maxwell is employed to analyze the fringe effect of a grid strip capacitor. The analysis includes capacitance changes with change of overlap length, overlap width, plate thickness, grid strip density etc. The results show that fringe effect leads to non-linear change of grid strip capacitance with the change of overlap length and width, that the capacitance increases with the increase of grid strip width and plate thickness, and that sensitivity can be improved through the increase of grid strip density in the condition of identical total overlap area, but linearity is reduced.

Textile-Based Capacitive Pressure Distribution Measurement System for Human Sitting Posture Monitoring

Flexible pressure monitoring device can help correct the sitting posture and prevent health problems(e.g.,deformity of spinal column and musculoskeletal disease).Currently,most measurement systems hinder their wide applications owing to the high cost or low accuracy.In this study,a flexible sitting pressure measurement system was proposed based on a textile-based capacitive pressure sensor array in order to measure sitting pressure distribution simply and conveniently.The capacitive pressure sensor array is sandwich structure composed of a high-density sponge layer and two electrode array fabrics,which possesses high resolution(2.26 sensors/cm2),high sensitivity(0.701 kPa-1)and fast response(≤35 ms).It is worth noting that the raw materials of the sensing fabric include commercialized copper sheets and polyester yarns.The as-prepared pressure measurement system can accurately measure the pressure distribution nephogram for sitting posture analysis.The sitting pressure of 10 volunteers was measured and six types of posture were distinguished clearly.